Toward understanding the informatics and statistical aspects of micro-RNA profiling

Understanding of the role of micro-RNA (miRNA) in multicellular life has blossomed in the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Currently, miRNA-mediated control of development and pathogenesis is potentially approaching a level of importance equivalent to traditional transcriptional and translational controls. Due to the rapid spread of miRNA-profiling experiments and the possible value of information that is obtainable by these type of experiments, it is a punctual moment to step back and review (1) technologies available for determining the levels of miRNA present in a biological sample including microarray, bead, and quantitative sequencing-based approaches; (2) aspects regarding the quality and the normalization of profiling data; and (3) the statistical and bioinformatics analyses of miRNA profiling experiments. It is the hope of the author that this review will shed light on both the opportunities available to the researcher and the potential pitfalls that exist in this frontier of biomedical research.